1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to entertainment systems, and more particularly, to a system and method for generating a television (TV) programming guide.
2. Background of the Invention
With cable and satellite TV technologies, a TV set can receive broadcast signals through hundreds of channels. A TV set “tunes in” to a channel selected by a viewer. For TV sets that have two tuners, a viewer can see a first program of a first channel in the monitor and a second program of a second channel in a smaller “window” within the same monitor. Each tuner is typically controlled by the viewer using a remote control unit.
“Channel surfing” involves a viewer tuning in to a first channel, quickly determining whether he or she wishes to watch the program of the first channel, and tuning in to a second channel. The process repeats for additional channels. With hundreds of channels available for surfing, it can take the viewer a long time to find a desirable program. Channel surfing is often performed by the user by repeatedly pressing one of the “Channel Up” and the “Channel Down” buttons on the remote control unit.
Recognizing that channel surfing is time consuming, a number of solutions have been offered by TV set manufacturers. One solution is to make the remote control unit programmable. A user of a programmable remote control unit can designate certain channels as his or her “favorite” or “frequently watched” channels. One example of this solution is to program the “Channel Up” button and the “Channel Down” button so that when one of them is pressed, only those channels previously designated as “favorite” will be tuned in. For example, when a viewer presses the “Channel Up” button repeatedly, instead of sequentially tuning in to Channels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc., the solution enables to viewer to scan only Channels 2, 4, and 7, assuming that these three channels have been designated by the viewer to be his “favorite” or “frequently watched” channels.
Additional efforts have been made to help viewers navigate through hundreds of TV channels without requiring them to affirmatively program the remote control unit or the TV set itself.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,865 issued to Amano et al. (“The Amano patent”) on Dec. 17, 1996, discloses a “television broadcast receiver which selects programs by genre and past viewing habits.” When an Amano receiver receives a genre code from a user, the receiver tunes in the channel that has a past record of highest frequency of reception among all channels that are associated with the genre code. The Amano patent is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,444 issued to Yoshinobu (“The Yoshinobu patent”) on May 31, 1998, discloses a “broadcast receiving apparatus that automatically records frequency [sic] watched programs.” The Yoshinobu apparatus automatically records a user's frequently tuned in programming when the user is not watching the programming at the day and time when the user is expected to tune in to the channel. The Yoshinobu patent is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,988 issued to Williams et al. (“The Williams patent”) on Aug. 31, 1999, discloses a “method and apparatus for automatically determining and dynamically updating user preferences in an entertainment system.” The Williams invention monitors a user's interaction with an entertainment system. Based on the interaction, the invention can automatically determine which of a plurality of users is currently using the entertainment system. The Williams patent is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,009 issued to Ohkura et al. (“The Ohkura patent”) on Oct. 3, 2000, discloses a “Program guide controller.” In this invention, programs of high viewing frequency of a user are automatically registered, permitting registered programs to be included in genre information. The Ohkura patent is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.